Welcome to the ISCB Community News Blog

This blog collects news, announcements or other information which could be of interest to our ISCB members. We are a group ISCB members who volunteer to populate this blog on a regular basis. In case you want to become an "ISCB-News Reporter" yourself, let us know: contact ISCBDon't repost copyrighted content! The guidelines are:- Include a link to the source page- Include a short summary about the article. You can quote up to ONE paragraph from the original story, but not more- Don't repost an entire articles originating from another source- Never post content without attribution — always include the sourceTo post a news, please use this form.

Thursday, June 10, 2010

The search for the genetic underpinnings of autism spectrum disorder has just yielded a new set of clues. In the largest study to date, the Autism Genome Project consortium reports that people with autism have more copy number variants – segments of DNA that have been either duplicated or deleted – in their genes.

The results, published today in Nature, could eventually be used to develop quick diagnostic tests. The consortium was also able to group some of the affected genes into biochemical pathways. These pathways – some of which are clearly linked to brain function -- may then become attractive targets for those who hope to develop drugs to treat the condition

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Creation of a Bacterial Cell Controlled by a Chemically Synthesized Genome

We report the design, synthesis, and assembly of the 1.08-MbpMycoplasma mycoides JCVI-syn1.0 genome starting from digitizedgenome sequence information and its transplantation into a Mycoplasmacapricolum recipient cell to create new Mycoplasma mycoidescells that are controlled only by the synthetic chromosome.The only DNA in the cells is the designed synthetic DNA sequence,including "watermark" sequences and other designed gene deletionsand polymorphisms, and mutations acquired during the buildingprocess. The new cells have expected phenotypic properties andare capable of continuous self-replication.